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Topic: VIN number on your 350 GTR/GTO title (Read 10302 times)

I am just curious on what number is being used to title 350 GTR's and GTO's. Different states may have used or required the use of the frame number on the neck vs the plaque under the right side of the seat. Please, if you vote, give the situation you actually have and not an opinion. If you would like to give an opinion or make a comment that is not actually based on what is on your 350GTR/GTO title don't vote but simply reply to this thread.

In Virginia you are required to use the head stock number. When I purchased the bike from Mike Anderson the title was already using the number on the headstock. This worked out great for my state. Thanks Steve

Just remember if you buy a bike without a title, it is your responsibility to be quite certain before purchase that the bike is not stolen. Even if you get a bill of sale with it and it turns up stolen when the inspecting officer or the DMV check during title search they will take it away from you and maybe more..Thanks Steve

Intresting, made me look at my title i recently had to get for mine......no color descript on the title, has V.I.N. ,year,make,plate number....model/body is blank as well as the engine number. Must be different requirements for titles in different states or somehow with age? Just got my title issued 10-03-11

Thought I would try to revive this old thread. I am trying to title my 350 GTO and need to figure out which number I should use, the plaque or the headstock number. Doesn't matter which in my state. Does anybody know what number was originally used to register/title these bikes? I would like to set it up such that if I ever decide to sell the bike someday, the next owner will not have any problems with it. This makes me lean toward using the headstock number. Opinions please?

As you can see from past posts, you've hit on a subject with many interpretations!

Here's my opinion on what Bridgestone and Rockford originally intended:The VIN (vehicle identification number) is the number on the plaque. That is what was most likely on the manufacturer's certificate of origin, and "should" have been used for the first (and subsequent) title.The frame and engine are each stamped with a serial number. They are unique numbers, usually close to but not identical to the VIN.

In actual practice, there's been a mix of opinions on whether to use the VIN or the frame number on the title, and both are common. It depended on each state's rules, local interpretation of the rules, and what was turned in for paperwork. At this late date, the "right" answer depends on the buyer, seller, and any inspection required, subject to local whims.

Again my own opinion is that if you have paperwork that matches either the plaque or the frame number, you have a good solid case, and it would unlikely to cause any trouble. But as with all such discussions, "your results may vary"!

I live in Ohio and have GTRs titled both ways, some to the frame (headstock) number and some to the tag riveted to the frame. At the county title office, as long as they could find one of those two numbers matching the number on the title they were ok with it.

That is what was most likely on the manufacturer's certificate of origin, and "should" have been used for the first (and subsequent) title.

In actual practice, there's been a mix of opinions on whether to use the VIN or the frame number on the title, and both are common. It depended on each state's rules, local interpretation of the rules, and what was turned in for paperwork. At this late date, the "right" answer depends on the buyer, seller, and any inspection required, subject to local whims.

Many times the Certificate of Origin was supplied without any number - if you ordered multiple bikes, they just sent blank COO's, signed but without numbers. Then it was up to the dealer to put in whichever number they wanted to, so that also added to the variation.

Thought I would add to this old thread. The guy that use to own my GTR died about 10 years ago and I bought the bike from his widow but she could not find the title. I stopped at my local count courthouse yesterday and had them run the vin numbers. The frame number came up with nothing but we got a hit with the plaque number so I talked to her today and she will stop and get a duplicate title for it. This will be much easier than getting what Nebraska calls a bonded title for vehicles without titles.

I will add to this as well. In Wisconsin, they want to now use the frame numbers. They say it is because it harder to remove than a plate riveted to bike. I have titled 4 of them now and I had to use the frame number on each one. These were all done in 2016. By the way, although a little more paperwork, and and extra 150, the bonded process for a lost title is not that bad to do.

Here in the UK we have a single national vehicle registration authority (DVLA). You would think they have a standard system, however, I had to register my GTO on the frame number, having to get some of the sumitted forms changed to comply. Recently spoke to another UK member who had exactly the opposite problem, DVLA insisted on registering his machine against the tagged VIN number again requiring some forms to be changed at the income tax office. So you pays yer money and takes yer chance, it seems it all depends on the whim of the person who deals with your application. Not what you want to hear. Brian

Hello all. Haven't been on he site for a while, and nice to be back. Interestingly, I hadn't titled my 350 after purchasing it out of state a couple of years ago, and just did it today. So many of these people at DMV's are unacquainted with Bridgestone in particular that I find it necessary to educate them a little to help the process. They immediately want to go for the headstock number. This bike, (from Iowa), had been titled a '69, when it was a '67. Thanks to the late Grahams, (RIP) hard work, I was able to show them the recorded known serial number range and get my new title corrected to it's correct manufactured year, 1967. I signed an affidavit stating I wasn't the mafia, and if they found information I was misleading them, I'd be put away forever. Other than that, it's a done deal. Idaho works off the VIN, no matter where it's located. If unavailable, you receive a branded title with an alternate number, substantially reducing the value if it's a collectible.

Very true a high percentage of the time. In this case, someone guessed at the year to title it in Iowa after it had been sitting abandoned in a body shop. I went through the same thing with my 200RS Mach II, and for a similar reason. Got it corrected as well.

I was not aware that Bridgestone had a VIN on the headstock, and a tag on the frame near the battery box. I'll have to check my Wisconsin title (where I purchased the GTR) to see what number is on it. I currently live in Georgia, which requires that the frame number be on the title. I recently registered a Wisconsin-titled Kawasaki here in Goergia that had the engine number on the title. I had to send the title to Wis DMV to be corrected. I may also have to correct the Wisconsin GTR title, depending on what # Georgia DMV wants on "their" title.

Decades ago, Wisconsin only used the engine number on titles, switching to the 18-digit frame number in 1980 (I think) as those became the standard.